Running

Your
Usability
Test
Dr. Will Kurlinkus
1. Interactive Figma
Prototypes Due
Friday before Class
2. All Submissions
for Ideate Due by
Monday
How to Run Your Usability Test Friday
1. You will be in a group of 3-4. The other 2-3 people will run your usability test.
2. You will need to have someone run the zoom session for you outside of the class—you
won’t be able to do it in a breakout room. You’ll need to get everyone’s email and
send them the zoom link if you are running things.
3. Whoever is running the breakout room will have to let other people share their
screen. Here’s how.
4. While you are waiting to run or take the test it’s important that you don’t watch and
listen in so that you can come to the person’s app with fresh eyes.
5. To share your Figma link, you’ll click share in the upper right corner>anyone with link
can view>copy link
6. To record the video as host, click the record button at the bottom of screen (I’d
recommend record to computer if you don’t know how to record to cloud).
7. To enable other people to record as the host click on participants>more>allow record
Basics of Usability
Test
1. Welcome: thank them for coming, ensure that
you are not testing them but the product, get
consent to record, learn basic demographic
information (name, age, occupation, and any
other key demo info-–think back to personas),
do they have questions
2. Usability activities/tasks/scenarios: based on
research goals, specific action, avoid
answering other scenarios
3. Wrap Up: Ask clarifying questions, general
feel/redesign questions, thank them.
Writing Your 3 Scenarios
• Scenarios: Creating realistic brief activities/tasks for
your users to perform during the usability test that
engage the possible errors of the site.
• Start with the goals of the website
• Put those goals in a realistic context: add constraints
• User goal: Browse product offerings and
purchase an item.
• Poor task: Purchase a pair of orange Nike
running shoes.
• Better task: Buy a pair of shoes for under $40.
• Place some kind of realistic emotional/psychological
pressure on your usability subjects. Tell a story.
• Avoid clues in your scenarios. Don’t mention the
names of section of the website or links. Also avoid
having one scenario answer another if possible.
Sample Scenario: A Bit
Too Detailed
“The spring semester is coming to a close, and you are
planning on moving to a new house across town with your
4 roommates. Only one of you has your own car, and you
all decide that it would be too much of a hassle and too
much gas money to try and drive back and forth in that
one car. One of you suggests that it would be easier to just
rent a truck for the day to move across town. You
remember your neighbors from back home used to hire
Penske Trucks to move across town to their new home,
and you suggest to the group that they are a reliable
company to rent from. The trouble is, you don’t know
where the nearest truck rental site is near where you live.
Without using the search bar, try and locate what location
you would rent your truck from in your area.”
 Sample Script

● Intro: Before we begin, do I have consent to take both audio and video recordings of the interview. I want you to know that this
isn’t a test—there are no right or wrong answers. We’re trying to collect data on the usability of the app not on how good or bad
you do? If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.?
● Basic Bio Questions: What kind of city or town do you live in? What is your job? What is your age? How many times do you go to
art galleries a year? Would you say you are interested in local art? Have you ever bought local art? What has that experience been
like? What are your favorite cell phone apps? How many new apps would you say you download a year?
● Task/Scenarios:
○ Prompt 1: Pretend you are browsing art at a local gallery and want to know more about a piece, using our app, please find
this specific local artist, located at this local art gallery.
■ Prompt Follow-up: Which route do users deploy to get to the local artist: are they more likely to use the geolocate
feature, search function, or QR code? Why do they use one route over the others?
○ Prompt 2: From the artist’s page of question 1, locate and listen to the audio tour of a specific piece of art.
■ Prompt 2 How was this experience of navigation and listening? What types of information would you like to know about
pieces/artists?
○ Prompt 3: Pretend you are interested in buying a piece by this artist, from the audio tour page, attempt to buy the piece.
■ Prompt 3 Follow-Up: How was this experience?
● Outro: That’s it for the major tasks before we go, I’d like you to fill out this brief system usability scale that asks you to reflect on
your experiences overall. After the system usability scale—finally, I’d love if you could share some insights on what you would have
liked to seen in the app. Thanks so much.
Taking Notes During
Your Usability Test
Practice Note
Taking By
Watching the
Video